New elevator installed at Peru Elementary

Assemblywoman Janet Duprey cut the ribbon for the new elevator recently installed at Peru Elementary. Third grader Jay Wood and teacher Courtney Rock were a few of the first elevator riders.

PERU — Officials, teachers and students gathered last Tuesday to welcome the elementary school’s new elevator.

Originally, the k-2 house and the 3-6 house were connected on the inside by only a long stairway of approximately 20 steps.

In the elementary school, which contains almost 1,000 students, three students are confined to a wheelchair. Brimstein said throughout the course of the school year, several students, along with faculty and staff, come in either a wheelchair or on crutches.

A number of grandparents, parents and other visitors also had difficulty with the big stairway and the long haul to the gym at the southern end of the building where most of the school’s assemblies, concerts and other activities take place.

Students confined to a wheelchair, along with other persons who had difficulty climbing up and down 20 steps, had to leave the building and enter the other from the sidewalk. “It was a nice walk in the spring,” Brimstein said. “But the haul during the winter was a whole different story.”

Now, the elevator, located adjacent to the staircase, allows people easier access between the two elementary buildings inside.

“It was long overdue,” he said.

The total project cost $1.5 million — about half of those funds went toward the elevator alone.

Brimstein praised Assemblywoman Janet Duprey (R-Peru) for her support in the project by getting the project up and running when it was moving very slowly.

Duprey said in an email that the superintendent reached out to her in March 15 to help obtain the State Education Department approval for the elevator portion of the school capital project.

“I was delighted to cut the ribbon for the elevator, which will make such a difference for these special children,” she said.

With the incorporation of this new elevator, Brimstein said to the best of his knowledge, all three of the schools building are now ADA compliant.

“We want to make sure everyone has access now and in years to come,” he said.